eric trumphttp://www.readthehook.com/taxonomy/term/3553/all
enKluge v. Trump: Lawsuit alleges land-deal fraudhttp://www.readthehook.com/109426/kluge-v-trump-lawsuit-alleges-land-deal-fraud
<p>John Kluge, Jr. wants his land back. That would be the 217-acre front yard of Albemarle House, the mansion his mother, winemaker Patricia Kluge, lived in until the bank foreclosed on the property in 2011. Both land and mansion are now owned by Donald Trump. A lawsuit filed April 5 in Albemarle Circuit Court contends that Trump "fraudulently acquired" the separate front yard and is now stiffing John Kluge's trust for more money promised if Albemarle House sold within two years.</p>
<p>Kluge's father, billionaire John W. Kluge, put the 217-acre parcel into a trust for his son in 2000.</p>
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<p><a href="http://www.readthehook.com/88878/step-donald-trump-wants-all-kluge-properties">'A step': Donald Trump wants all the Kluge properties</a></p>
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<p>When Patricia Kluge ran into financial difficulties in 2010 and saw her winery and house go into foreclosure, her buddy Donald Trump swooped in and bought Kluge Estate Winery and Vineyard at auction for $6.21 million.</p>
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<p>He also had his eye on the 23,000-square-foot Albemarle House, once listed for $100 million, but eventually acquired by Trump Virginia Acquisitions LLC for $6.5 million.</p>
<p>To persuade Bank of America to sell Albemarle House on the cheap, Trump approached the John W. Kluge Jr. Trust and offered to pay $150,000 for the 217 acres, and up to $350,000 more if the mansion sold within two years, according to the lawsuit. The trust sold the property in March 2011 and Trump posted no-trespassing signs to discourage would-be buyers gazing out from Albemarle House, and by September 28, 2012, Trump sealed the deal on the house.</p>
<p>Within a few days, Kluge's trustee contacted Trump's Virginia Acquisitions LLC and asked for the additional compensation.</p>
<p>The lawsuit asserts that Eric Trump responded in a November 13 letter and informed the trust that the Trumps "never intended to perform the obligation to pay additional consideration as required...," according to court documents.</p>
<p>In the letter, Eric Trump, executive VP of development and acquisitions, expresses surprise that Kluge wants more money and denies the additional compensation portion of the sales contract made it to the closing on the property.</p>
<p>Trump also complains in the letter that the Kluge Trust provided a bogus right of first refusal&#8211; ROFR&#8211; that the Trumps had planned to use to score Albemarle House after Bank of America foreclosed. Even if the bank found a buyer for Albemarle House, Donald Trump insisted he had the right to match the price.</p>
<p>Bank of America sued Trump, and in U.S. District Court, Judge Norman Moon "invalidated" the right of first refusal. That, in turn, invalidated the Trump company's obligation to pay additional compensation to Kluge, Eric Trump maintains in his letter, which also demands that the Kluge Trust reimburse Trump Virginia Acquisitions for the "tremendous fees and expenses Acquisitions incurred in connection with its failed attempt to exercise the ROFR."</p>
<p>Eric Trump did not respond to a phone call from the <em>Hook</em>.</p>
<p>The additional compensation clause after the sale is unusual, says <em>Hook</em> legal expert David Heilberg. "It sounds like rich people's problems. This lawsuit uses two of the three examples I use&#8211; Mr. Rockefeller, Mr. Trump or Mr. Kluge&#8211; who can afford to litigate principle," he says.</p>
<p>"The Trumps fraudulently induced the trust to sell," says the plaintiff's Middleburg attorney Edward MacMahon. "This is Trump's <em>modus operandi</em>." Not only does Trump not want to pay, but he still wants to keep the land, says MacMahon.</p>
<p>The Kluge Trust will put the $150K purchase price in an escrow account, according to the suit, which asks that the March 2011 deed be rescinded and conveyed back to the Kluge Trust.</p>
<p>John W. Kluge, Jr. declined to comment on the lawsuit. <em>&nbsp;</em></p>
<p><a href="http://www.forbes.com/special-report/2012/forbes-400/ones-to-watch/profiles/0917_ones-to-watch_john-kluge.html"><em>Forbes</em> listed the 29-year-old former Albemarlean</a> on its "Ones to Watch" of the 400 richest Americans. Kluge calls himself "a committed toilet hacker" dedicated to providing sanitary facilities for the 2.8 billion people in the world who don't have access to a bathroom. He co-founded a private, for-profit venture philanthropy company called Eirene, and has co-written a book coming out called <em>Charity and Philanthropy for Dummies</em>.</p>
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<p>another which held the hVirina</p>
http://www.readthehook.com/109426/kluge-v-trump-lawsuit-alleges-land-deal-fraud#comments_BreakingNewsFeaturedDonald Trumperic trumpJohn W. Kluge Jr.NewsMon, 15 Apr 2013 18:58:26 +0000lisa109426 at http://www.readthehook.com'The wind': Donald Trump lifts spirits at wineryhttp://www.readthehook.com/101251/tremendous-trump-inaugurates-new-winery
<p>The hottest ticket in Virginia last week was the grand opening of Trump Vineyard Estates, with scores of public officials among 500 wine-happy citizens clamoring for a peek at the relaunched vineyard&#8211; as well as a peek at the real estate mogul turned reality television star known as The Donald.</p>
<p>Despite proximity of fewer than two hours south of Manhattan via private helicopter, a close advisor asserts that the October 4 event marked the first time The Donald himself set foot on the southeast-of-Charlottesville property, which Trump bought earlier this year after banks seized the place from Patricia Kluge.</p>
<p>"Donald has become the wind beneath my wings," a smiling Kluge told the crowd. "I feel that I gave birth to this place, and there is nothing more pleasing than to know that it's in the hands of someone I've known for 30 years."</p>
<p>"I'm going to put a lot of people to work," said Trump, who has hired Kluge and her husband, William Moses.</p>
<p>"Patricia did a amazing job," Trump said as he began explaining why he'll succeed where Kluge went bankrupt. "I don't have a mortgage."</p>
<p>Public records show that Trump paid $8.55 million for 871 acres including the pavilion, the Farm Shop on Blenheim Road, and a former carriage museum&#8211; a complex that Trump vows to make a thriving center for wines and weddings.</p>
<p>But questions remain about the elusive final piece of his puzzle: <a href="http://www.readthehook.com/65584/reversal-fortune-albemarle-house-goes-block">Albemarle House</a>. Trump has <a href="http://www.readthehook.com/99077/trumped-donald-surrounds-albemarle-house-signs">surrounded the 24,000 square-foot mansion with no-trespassing signs</a>, an effort that has <a href="http://www.readthehook.com/100569/refusal-refused-bofa-sues-trump-over-albemarle-house">drawn a lawsuit</a> from the owner, Bank of America. What would he do with it?</p>
<p>"What kind of question is that&#8211; would you buy it?" he asked the questioner, <em>Hook</em> editor Hawes Spencer, with Kluge finally breaking the silence by quipping, "He couldn't afford it."</p>
<p>Trump's son, Eric, who is heading up the Virginia project, clarified things somewhat afterwards: "We often acquire things and then decide what to do with them."</p>
<p>Another reporter asked Trump about New Jersey Governor Chris Christie's decision to stay out of the presidential contest. "A very good friend of mine," noted Trump, who added that the Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell would make a "fantastic" Republican vice presidential candidate.</p>
<p>McDonnell spent much of his time on the podium extolling the recent growth of the Virginia wine industry (employer of over 3,000 and the nation's sixth largest wine grape producer), and the governor offered his hope that additional tax revenues will soon flow like wine.</p>
<p>A Spencer question on what the governor will do for the little wineries&#8211; <a href="http://www.vwdc.org/about.html">now forced to sell via middlemen</a>&#8211; was politely acknowledged but not specifically answered. Instead, McDonnell enthused that success can't help but follow the Trump brand.</p>
<p>"Put that on the Kluge wine," said the governor, "and that's a match made in heaven."</p>
<p>Eric Trump (whom Kluge calls "baby face") noted the high regard for Kluge's wine and why they won't all be rebranded. "You go into Le Cirque, and you see the Kluge wines."</p>
<p>After the press conference, guests eagerly pressed to be photographed with Trump. When he was busy, they settled for pictures with his helicopter.</p>
<p>Reporters counted all but one member of the Albemarle Board of Supervisors, with City Council represented by Mayor Dave Norris, Holly Edwards, David Brown, and Kristin Szakos. There was no shortage of state delegates, sheriffs, and Central Virginia real-estate moguls such as Wendell Wood and Hunter Craig.</p>
<p>Also partying was Frank Friedman, president of Piedmont Virginia Community College, an institution still owed part of a $1.2 million pledge that Kluge and Moses made a few years before declaring bankruptcy. Friedman declined to venture a guess about whether PVCC&#8211; which put the couple's name on a science building&#8211; will eventually see the unpaid $480,000.</p>
<p>Just one hour into the two-hour reception, Eric and Donald Trump strolled out to the whirling helicopter and took off in a whoosh of blowing leaves and tousled hair. On the evening in which the enterprise she built officially became Trump Estate Winery, Kluge revealed no mixed emotions about how she felt after losing everything she owned to save her venture.</p>
<p>"Elated," said the former mistress of the estate.</p>
<p><em>&#8211;edited for print publication at 3:22pm, Thursday, October 6.<br />&#8211;Correction: The print version of this story listed a chapel as among the features of the property purchased by Trump; however, the brick chapel is part of the Albemarle House tract which Trump has not yet acquired.</em></p>
http://www.readthehook.com/101251/tremendous-trump-inaugurates-new-winery#comments_BreakingNewsBusinessFeaturedPeoplebob mcdonnellDonald Trumperic trumppatricia klugeNewsWed, 05 Oct 2011 15:35:15 +0000lisa101251 at http://www.readthehook.comYou're hired: Trump to keep Kluge and Moses at wineryhttp://www.readthehook.com/90603/trump-makes-wine-not-run-president
<p>On the same day that Donald Trump announced that he won't be making a run for the U.S. presidency, his son reveals that the famous deal-maker plans to continue to invest in the wine operation he recently bought out of foreclosure&#8211; and that he plans to give former owners Patricia Kluge and Bill Moses roles in the operation.</p>
<p>"It will continue as a vineyard," says Eric Trump in a May 16 telephone interview. "How we'll put a label on it, we're still wrapping our arms around that."</p>
<p>What team Trump has wrapped its arms around is the couple vanquished by their own ambitions.</p>
<p>"Patricia's an amazing woman; Bill I very much admire," says Eric Trump. "Yes, they are coming aboard."</p>
<p>Owning the <a href="http://www.klugeestate.com/">Kluge Estate Winery and Vineyard</a> means Donald Trump, via Trump Virginia Acquisitions LLC, now has a toehold in the state that sent eight men to the White House.</p>
<p>On April 7, Trump <a href="http://www.readthehook.com/89845/trump-towers-kluge-vineyards-go-donald">agreed to buy two Kluge parcels at auction</a> for $6.21 million: a 129-acre tract with vineyards and the winery and a 647-acre tract with vineyards, pavilion, office, and carriage museum. Earlier, for $374,600, Trump had secured a 217-acre parcel from a trust for Kluge's son, a parcel that's essentially the front yard (and former golf course) to <a href="http://www.readthehook.com/65584/reversal-fortune-albemarle-house-goes-block">Kluge's former mansion, Albemarle House</a>. That brings Trump's Charlottesville-area holdings to 993 acres.</p>
<p>"My father has had his eye on it for a long time," says Eric Trump. "My father has always believed in buying great properties."</p>
<p>Eric Trump says his father is still eying Albemarle House, which <a href="http://www.readthehook.com/88878/step-donald-trump-wants-all-kluge-properties">Bank of America foreclosed upon</a> and put back on the market for $16 million. Previously, a Trump rep said the price is too high.</p>
<p>"We'll see what happens," says Eric Trump. "Our play always was for the land, the vineyards, the carriage house, gazebo&#8211;- it's an incredible value."</p>
<p>The younger Trump, who says he's been spending considerable time in Charlottesville over the past few weeks, extols Kluge's winemaking abilities, especially her sparkling wine and New World Red.</p>
<p>"It's one of the best vineyards in the world," he raves. "I think [Kluge and Moses] did amazing wonders for the Virginia wine industry."</p>
<p>Asked about a <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/13/nyregion/feeling-deceived-over-homes-that-were-trump-in-name-only.html">recent report</a> in the <em>New York Times</em> showing that Trump often affixes his name&#8211; and not his money&#8211; to projects, his son says Trump's investing his own capital in Albemarle and keeping the site "impeccably" maintained. So while Donald Trump won't be running the country, he does get something he wanted.</p>
<p>"He loves holding incredible pieces of land," says Eric Trump. "At the end of the day, he's a real estate developer."</p>
<p><em>Correction 5/20 on the number of presidents from Virginia.</em></p>
http://www.readthehook.com/90603/trump-makes-wine-not-run-president#comments_BreakingNewsBusinessFeaturedPeopleReal Estatebill mosesDonald Trumperic trumppatricia klugerecessionNewsTue, 17 May 2011 15:44:32 +0000lisa90603 at http://www.readthehook.com